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Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Batu Caves Committee denies stalls being invaded by Malays

A trustee of the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple, N Sivakumar, has denied allegations that the stalls in the temple compound have been invaded by Malays.

In an interview with Malaysiakini, Sivakumar, who is also in charge of the stores, said: "We don't stop anyone, that's why we call 1Malaysia.

"Out of the 350 stalls which were set up, 70 percent of them are owned by Indians."

Checks by Malaysiakini revealed almost all of the stores were occupied by Indians.

The stores' products ranged from Indian delicacies, Indian ornaments, prayer ornaments, collectibles, clothes and compact disc of films and songs.

On a side note, when asked about the funfair in a place meant for worship, he answered: "We're in a place where we have to accommodate many tourists and people from all walks of life.

"We want those coming inside here (Batu Caves) to spend their time.

"Our attractions do not contain gambling elements, they are just merry-go-rounds and rides, that's all."

In 2011, the Selayang Municipal Council refused to issue or renew the permit for the funfair following the state government's directive on not having entertainment and gaming activities in places of worship.

Despite not being issued a licence to operate, the funfair continued operations and was slapped with a summons for operating a funfair without a license.

Only in the year 2014, the funfair was absent from the festival.

RM5 rent for a sarong?

On another matter, some tourists were not happy about the charges being imposed on sarong, calling it a "complete rip-off".

A number of them were unaware about not being allowed to enter the temple if their knees were exposed and would have to rent a sarong to enter, or go home.

At the entrance before the 272 steps leading up to the temple, a group will stop women if their clothing did not cover their knees.

The women would then have to pay RM5 to rent a sarong, where RM2 would be given back upon returning them.

Speaking to some tourists, they agreed that this practice is normal in many parts of Asia and Europe, but some said charging RM3 for a sarong was a complete rip-off.

"I read in TripAdvisor, they mentioned it is not appropriate wearing too short a clothing to places of worship, so I brought mine," a tourist from Australia said.

Sivakumar, who is also the son to R Nadarajah, the head of the temple's executive committee, defended the temple's decision to charge such a high price and said it was to send a strong message to those coming here without adhering to the dress code.

"Next time, the people coming here, they would be properly dressed, because they know they'll need to pay for sarong," he said.

This directive by the temple committee has been in place since 2014.

Sivakumar added that the fees for the sarong rental would be scrapped in the future if people continued to dress appropriately to places of worships.- Mkini